Payment Expert’s Fintech Unwrapped delivers the latest and developing news that has shaped the sector over the course of the week.
This week, JP Morgan is working with India’s national payments authority to perform FX and real-time currency conversions for payments using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in a bid to expand into different jurisdictions.
Also this week:
- Visa: Targeting high-net-spend customers with an upgraded debit card.
- Robinhood: Unveiled what it called its “most ambitious global expansion and product vision to date.”
- Square: Integrating ChatGPT and Claude for retail payments.
- SumUp: Rewarding small businesses with customer personal accounts.
JP Morgan to enable multi-currency conversions using UPI
JP Morgan Payments and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) are expanding the global footprint of India’s account-to-account payment rail, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
In a partnership announced on 30 June, the NPCI will integrate JP Morgan Payments’ foreign exchange and API systems to enable real-time currency conversion for clients receiving cross-border payments in multiple currencies.
Guhaprasath Rajagopal, Head of India Payments at JP Morgan Payments, said: “This collaboration reduces friction in cross-border payments and connects clients to UPI’s expanding reach, while pairing it with our real-time FX capabilities and API-based integration. We’re focused on helping clients deliver better customer experiences with greater transparency, scale and control across currencies and corridors.
The collaboration involving JP Morgan intends to help clients in India with faster, more transparent international payments.
UPI is already available across nine countries: Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Nepal, Bhutan, Mauritius, France, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Qatar, and the new partnership aims to support further expansion of UPI’s global footprint.
Visa to curate payment experiences for affluent customers
Visa has upgraded its Infinite platform with the launch of a new luxury payment card, issued by Barclays and other European financial institutions, designed for affluent customers.
Announced during the Visa Payments Forum in Paris, alongside the release of new agentic payment capabilities, the Visa Infinite card will allow issuing banks access to high-net spend customers with an accompanying AI-powered platform with an agent concierge that acts on behalf of the cardholder.
Visa Infinite unlocks access to a hard-to-access experiences, such as Visa-only access to cultural landmarks like the Musée du Louvre in Paris, exclusive pre-sale concert tickets for Céline Dion 2026 shows, and behind-the-scenes access to global sporting events for the FIFA World Cup, Olympics and Formula One Grand Prix’s.
The proposition is supported by partners including Made to Taste, Harrods, and Kensington Yachts, among over 100 others.
Mathieu Altwegg, Head of Product and Solutions for Visa in Europe, said: “Affluent customers increasingly expect premium experiences to keep pace with how their lives evolve. Visa Infinite brings together the scale and trust of our network with a programmable platform that allows issuers to shape and continuously refine their premium offering, with access to Visa’s unique assets and partners.”
Robinhood issues blockchain mainnet to expand tokenised stocks
Robinhood announced at Old Royal Naval College in London on 1 July its “most ambitious global expansion and product vision to date” with the launch of a native public blockchain.
Robinhood Chain will connect its users to a public liquidity protocol acting as a turnkey to bridge traditional finance options, such as lending, with new decentralised protocols as the blockchain network has been backed with public mainnet.
Robinhood’s Stock Tokens offering, initially available to European investors, is now also expanding to more than 120 countries. This allows users to invest in real-world stock options via Robinhood Chain to gain equity through blockchain-based representations of traditional shares.
The offering is available for 24/7 trading and bypasses traditional stock opening and closing times, enabling investors to access stock options on the weekends.
Johann Kerbrat, SVP and General Manager of Crypto and International at Robinhood, said: “Decentralised finance unlocks possibilities beyond what traditional finance can offer, but historically, it has required technical expertise to navigate. We’re bringing the best of traditional finance and DeFi together, and in doing so, expanding financial ownership to every corner of the globe.”
Square enables AI-powered Cash App payments and retail insights
Square announced the integrations of ChatGPT and Claude to its point-of-sale client profiles to help customers make purchasing decisions through AI conversations.
This will be rolled out to Square food and beverage sellers in the US initially as customers can make AI-assisted purchases, and browse menus, via the Cash App platform for payments to be accepted at Square enabled terminals.
Square is also working with Amazon to integrate Alexa+ for voice recognition assistance of payments and retail queries.
Morgan Kuntze, Global Partnerships Lead at Block, said: “Consumer behaviors and preferences are constantly evolving, and business owners can easily find themselves playing an impossible game of catch-up.
“Our investment into agentic commerce aims to offload that responsibility by giving operators time back, helping connect them with customers in their communities, and keeping them at the industry’s cutting edge. Modern commerce is moving at a sprint, and we’re building Square to help sellers appear everywhere customers are going.”
SumUp to reward consumers and SMEs with personal accounts
SumUp launched consumer personal accounts for four million merchants across the world on 1 July designed to reward spending with small businesses.
Initially available in countries such as the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, SumUp’s consumer personal accounts come with 5% cashback with SumUp businesses, as well as zero-fee spending, instant transfers and budgeting tools.
Accessible through the SumUp App, the personal accounts includes several new features, like spending insights across connected accounts. Day-to-day payments are made through instant bank transfers, bill splitting, scheduled payments and direct debits for physical and virtual cards.
SumUp Global Head of Consumer, Joseph Flynn, said: “SumUp’s personal account offering represents the next stage in the development of our consumer offering – giving people a complete money management experience built around the businesses they already spend with.
“Connecting directly with the independent businesses in the SumUp network, the personal account gives consumers something unique – real rewards for supporting the businesses they already love. The SumUp personal account enables consumers to spend smarter, budget better and earn rewards on everyday purchases – with no hidden fees, ever.”
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